Train your staff in cybersecurity awareness so they know to resist the charms of online trojan horses.

A main tenet of cybersecurity best practices is educating your team in cyber awareness.

They need to understand and then embody pro-security behaviors to help prevent malicious hackers from gaining access to your sensitive data.

We could have named this email in so many different things including:

• STOP CLICKING ON THOSE SUSPICIOUS EMAILS!
• If I don’t know you, I’m hanging up/blocking you/reporting you…
• In no universe EVER would a Nigeria-based millionaire heiress ask you to serve as a financial intermediary for poor starving children.

Though the above may seem obvious for those specializing in cybersecurity, we realize that some people lack the experience and education to know better. That’s why it’s important to get your team the cyber awareness training they need to be a front line defense for your most value asset: your data.

What is cybersecurity awareness?

Essentially, “cybersecurity awareness,” is understanding potential cyber threats to your data assets and knowing how to avoid them. It’s both recognizing threats and responding swiftly and appropriately.

As Wesley Simpson, COO of (ISC)2, stated in an interview with TechRepublic, “Your people are your assets, and you need to invest in them continually. If you don’t get your people patched continually, you’re always going to have vulnerabilities.”

Basically, just like your hardware and software need regular and timely patch updates to protect your systems and data so do your staff. Because cyber threats continually evolve, your staff needs ongoing training on the latest cyber threats including how to recognize and respond to them.

According to Cybint, “95% of cybersecurity breaches are due to human error.”

Be cognizant that your staff isn’t making errors because they don’t care, it’s typically because they don’t know any better. So, be sure to iterate that every role in your company is responsible for recognizing and responding to cybersecurity risks.

In addition, start promoting and offering ongoing cyber awareness training.

Here’s some top topics to cover with your staff:

• Password security best practices including longer passwords using multiple character sets that are changed regularly and two factor authentication
• Securing virtual meeting and video conference
• The risks of using public Wi-Fi for business purposes
• Social engineering threats particularly ransomware, malware and phishing schemes.
• Securing work devices and remote wiping features
• Encrypting all sensitive data in storage or transit
• Backing up data as part of your business continuity plan

Finally, I’d like to give a shout out to Australia for proposing to teach cybersecurity to 5 years olds. See, you’re never too young, or too old to learn pro-security behaviors.

You need 24/7 physical and cyber protection and support. If you’re looking for an experienced, trustworthy partner, contact us.